Missouri teachers inch forward in pay, according to NEA’s Rankings and Estimates

Even with the slight increase, teachers in the Show-Me state lag behind the national average by more than $10,000.

May 18, 2017

NEA’s annual publication, Rankings and Estimates, which details the financial expenditures, revenue, enrollment numbers, and average teacher salaries for public schools in each state was released this week. You can download the full report from the NEA website at http://www.nea.org/rankings-and-estimates.Enrollment and AttendanceThe report shows that U.S. public school student enrollment and attendance continues to gradually rise (0.3 percent from 2015 to 2016), while the number of classroom teachers is running slightly behind (0.2 percent). Missouri ranks 19th in the nation for student fall enrollment numbers (2015, 886,480 students). Decreasing slightly in 2016 to 885,142 students. Missouri also ranks high on average daily attendance numbers, 18th in the nation (2016 849,740 ADA). Missouri’s number of high school graduates rose 1.3 percent in 2016, which pushed the Show-Me state from 18th to 16th in the nation. Graduate numbers are expected to fall 3.1 percent from 61,401 to 59,513 in 2017, which may be correlated to the decrease in student enrollment, which is expected to decrease again (-0.2 %) to 883,757. Classroom TeachersThere were 3.1 million teachers working in public schools in the United States during 2015‒16. Missouri employs 72,727 of those teachers, ranking 13th in the nation. Missouri will see a rise (2.8%) in the number of teachers in 2017, up to 74,788.

Missouri is also doing a good job of keeping the students per teacher at acceptable levels 12.2 students per classroom teacher, which falls under the national average of 15.9.

Teacher Salary The national average public school teacher salary for 2015–16 was $58,353. State average teacher salaries ranged from those in New York ($79,152), California ($77,179), and Massachusetts ($76,981) at the high end to South Dakota ($42,025) and Mississippi ($42,744) at the lower end. The average U.S. classroom teacher salary is estimated to increase by 1.0 percent from $58,353 in 2015-16 to $58,950 in 2016-17.

In a year where salary increases were flat in many states, Missouri showed a small 1.1 percent increase from 2015 ($47,423) to 2016 ($47,957), moving from 43rd to 40th in the nation, but still lagging behind the national average by more than $10,000. In 2017, Missouri teachers are expecting to inch up again 0.7 percent to wages averaging $48,293.

Over the decade, the national average classroom teacher salary has increased 15.2 percent. But after inflation adjustment, the average salary actually has decreased by $1,823 or 3.0 percent

School Revenue Nationally, school funding continues to be state oriented. In both 2014-15 and 2015‒16, 45.8 percent of public school revenue came from state funds, closely followed by local receipts (45.1% then 45.3%). Federal funds constituted 9.0 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively, of K-12 education revenue, totaling $12,596 per student in 2015 and $12,682 in 2016.

In comparison, Missouri ranks 4th in the nation on revenue received from local sources (2015, 58.7% and 2016, 58.2%); ranks 47th in the nation on state revenue for public schools (2015, 32.3% and 2016, 32.7%); and right at the national average for revenue received from the federal government (2015, 9.0% and 2016, 9.1%). Missouri’s overall revenue per student decreased from $12,284 in 2015 to $11,955 in 2016, dropping to 30th in the U.S. for public school revenue per student.

In 2017, Missouri will see a seven percent drop in federal funds, and with education budget cuts announced in the nation’s budget this week, 2018 is sure to see a reduction as well.

Expenditures per Student The national average per student expenditure in 2015–16 fall enrollment was $11,787. States with the highest per student expenditures: Vermont ($23,557), New York ($21,606), the District of Columbia ($21,297). Idaho ($6,538), Utah ($6,843), Indiana ($7,538), and Arizona ($7,566) had the lowest per student expenditures. Expenditures per student in fall enrollment should increase nationally by 1.7 percent to $11,984 in 2016‒17.

Over the last decade, the average per student expenditure has risen by $2,244, or 23 percent from $9,740 to $11,984. After inflation adjustment, the expenditure per student in enrollment has increased by $414, or 3.6 percent.